Garrett "G-Money" Holeve was born with Down's syndrome, a chromosomal condition that that affects about one of every 691 babies born in the United States each year.

However, this awe inspiring young man refuses to let anyone tell him he is any different. After watching professional mixed martial arts Holeve wanted to become a fighter himself.

With determination and the strength to follow his dreams, the Florida native turned to American Top Team in Davie, one of the premier MMA schools in the country.

Holeve also suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis, a painful disease that leads to inflammation of joints and surrounding tissues, yet that too has not stopped him from training.

While he is yet to compete professional Holeve has entered several exhibition style competitions. His story has been told over and over again and has gained the attention of professional fighters and even the likes of UFC President Dana White.

UFC fighter Stephan Bonnar recently went on Spike TV's MMA Uncensored and announced that he and other supporters have started up a non-profit organization called Garrett's Fight to help support Holeve and others like him who have a dream of making it big.

The mission of Garrett's Fight is to provide opportunities for athletes in the special needs community to participate in the Martial Arts through promotion, support and advocating the successful inclusion of individuals with varying degrees of need.

Martial Arts provides an outstanding and welcoming environment for confidence building as well as increased physical fitness to those who study it. Educating instructors on how to modify training for these individuals is paramount.

Garrett's Fight will advocate and promote competitive opportunities for these martial arts athletes; including, but not limited to, advocating for inclusion of Martial Arts into the Special Olympics.

To find out more about Garrett visit garrettsfight.org. A full-feature documentary is set to be released based on Garrett's achievements in training for a mixed martial arts bout. You can view the trailer for the film below.

Wow... wasn't there a troll thread almost exactly like this awhile ago?

If this is real, I'll say what I said then. I think it's great that he's doing this, but I think there needs to be some serious consideration about the risks of brain trauma to someone with Down's syndrome. I may be wrong, but are they not already have higher risk for seizures already?

The Cats Masher - Very inspiring. But I don't think I could watch him fight because of the chance he'd take a beating or get KO'd, I wouldn't want to see that. <br><br><br>Good for him for chasing his dream though!!! <img src="/images/phone/apple.png" alt="Phone Post" border="0" style="vertical-align:middle;"/>

Seriously, though... I have to agree with an earlier poster in that it's admirable that he chases his dream but I'd feel uneasy about "special" MMA. I don't know how to address the issue. On one hand, you want people to do anything they desire; but on the other hand, certain people shouldn't be doing certain things.

Atlanto-occipital instability makes even training for people with Downs a huge risk (esp with RA). In advanced trauma and life support training they tell people to be cautious of doing a forcefull chin lift to open the airway. If a chin lift can jeapordise the spinal in DS then i imagine many MMA submission attempts could have bad outcomes. Massive respect to him, he has heart, but there are few sports less suited to DS patients.

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